Radio shop keeps deployed Airmen in tune Published June 14, 2005 By Master Sgt. Rich Romero 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) -- A small shop has a big job here. The two-person shop within the 40th Air Expeditionary Group’s communications flight is responsible for programming, maintaining and tracking more than 360 hand-held radios, 299 pagers, a public address system, giant voice, about 15 television services and 200 phones for Air Force operations at this forward-deployed location.But they have some help. Sailors, Pacific Air Forces Airmen and contractors assist by maintaining the UHF air-to-ground radios, incoming and outgoing phone calls, morale calls, paging service, and television equipment and tools.A common problem that faces many shops here is the heat and humidity, and ground radio is no exception.“To prevent corrosion, TV cables and antennas have to be cleaned constantly,” said Staff Sgt. Nancy Leverich, a ground radio craftsman deployed from Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. “Telephone lines are frequently monitored and changed when the humidity causes weak signals.”Then there is the heat.“It can take me up to five hours on a vehicle radio install -- what should be an hour and a half job -- because of heat stress and sweating,” Sergeant Leverich said. “Twenty-four volts just isn’t funny when it’s going down your spinal column.”Some mottos ring so true, such as that of the ground radio shop -- “You can talk about us, but you can’t talk without us.” Despite extreme heat and adverse conditions, their goal is to keep the communications coming.